Dialogue in and between Different Cultures - International ...

Politeness and Social Dynamics in the Chat Communication 123
Through the examples described above, it could be shown that politeness in chats
is expressed by means of activities of special treatment that exceed participants’
expectations and the ritual order in the ongoing social interaction. The noncommittal
frame of chats is thereby minimized and chatters show closeness and
more commitment in their social relationships.
Within this non-committal frame, Höflich & Gebhardt (2001) consider that
only through the regular use of the same nickname, the change to a more private
communication channel and the exchange of email addresses, participants’ social
relationships gain more commitment and closeness (cf. ibid:38ff). This might be
true in most circumstances. However, what the authors do not account for is the
communicative way in which participants discursively construct a partial
commitment and closeness in their relationships during the ongoing interaction.
This happens in chats through politeness, among other communicative strategies.
One of the fundamental aspects of the recordings analyzed here is the
informal character of the communicative exchange between the participants.
Instead of a distinction between formal and informal relationships, as it is made
by Brown & Levinson (1987), concerning their categories of ‘positive’ and
‘negative’ politeness, social relationships in chats should be differentiated into
those who show a higher or a lower degree of commitment and closeness. This
differentiation illustrates one of the social dimensions proposed by Brown &
Levinson (1987) regarding the general use of politeness strategies: the distance
between the participants. Politeness in chats is precisely put into practice trough
the activities described above to minimize the social distance between the
participants, to create a partial commitment in their relationships and therefore to
overcome some restrictions of the medium.
Another question that emerges from the present discussion and that will be
answered in future studies are the possible differences between German and
Spanish-speaking chat-rooms in the way politeness is expressed. To answer that
question, the analysis will have to take into consideration aspects such as
participants’ cultural background, the particularities of the medium, the mutual
influence of both elements and the linguistic behaviour of chatters.
References
Bittner, Johannes. 2003. Digitalität, Sprache, Kommunikation. Eine Untersuchung zur Medialität
von digitalen Kommunikationsformen und Textsorten und deren varietätenlinguistischer
Modellierug. Berlin: Erich Schmidt.
Brinker, Klaus & Sven Sager. 2001. Linguistische Gesprächsanalyse. Eine Einführung. 3 rd ed.
Berlin: Erich Schmidt.
Brown, Penelope & Steven Levinson. 1987. Politeness. Some universals in language usage.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dorta, Gabriel. 2005. Soziale Welten in der Chat-Kommunikation. Untersuchungen zur Identitäts-
und Beziehungsdimension in Web-Chats. Bremen: Hempen.
Eelen, Gino. 2001. A Critique of Politeness Theories. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.